The Inner Planes
The Inner Planes
The inner planes, also
called the elemental planes, are planes
consisting primarily of one type of matter.
The inner planes consist
of six major and 12 minor planes, arranged
on a
sphere as shown on page 23. The PMPs and
<as shown below>
Ethereal plane are located inside that
sphere.
The following are the six major elemental planes:
The
plane of elemental Fire +
The plane of elemental
Earth +
The plane of elemental
Air +
The plane of elemental
Water
The plane of Positive
Energy (Positive Material plane)
The plane of Negative
Energy (Negative Material plane)
The twelve minor planes
are divided into two types: The para-elemental
planes, which exist between the four elemental
planes,
and the quasi-elemental planes, which
exist between the elemental
and Postive or Negative Material planes.
The para-elemental
planes and quasi-elemental planes are
as follows:
The plane of para-elemental
Smoke between the planes of Fire and Air
The plane of para-elemental
Ice between the planes of Air and Water
The plane of para-elemental
Ooze between the planes of Water and Earth
The plane of para-elemental
Magma between the planes of Earth and Fire
The plane of quasi-elemental
Lightning between the planes of Positive Energy and Air
The plane of quasi-elemental
Steam between the planes of Postive Energy and Water
The plane of quasi-elemental
Radiance between the planes of Positive Energy and Fire
The plane of quasi-elemental
Minerals between the planes of Positive Energy and Earth
The plane of quasi-elemental
Vacuum between the planes of Negative Energy and Air
The plane of quasi-elemental
Salt between the planes of Negative Energy and Water
The plane of quasi-elemental
Ash between the planes of Negative Energy and Fire
The plane of quasi-elemental
Dust between the planes of Negative Energy and Earth
Each elemental plane
has a solid core of its elemental type--
for example, pure rock in the case of
elemental Earth. Each also
contains islands of other elemental material
that allow a wide
variety of creatures to survive in that
plane.
These elemental, para-elemental,
quasi-elemental and Positive
and Negative Material planes share an
inborn hostility to life
forms not from the inner planes, and to
life from the Prime Material
plane in particular. Travellers are therefore
warned to wander
here only if they possess specific protection,
or, lacking that protection,
remain in the Border Ethereal of these
planes.
The inner planes can
be reached in three ways--via the Ethereal
plane, other inner planes, and elemental
vortices. Reaching
a particular plane from the Ethereal plane
is covered in the section
on the Ethereal (enter the Border Ethereal
of the Prime Material
plane, pass through the Deep Ethereal
to the curtain of the
proper color, then pass into the Border
Ethereal of the desired
inner plane).
An important point for
characters who travel through the inner
planes while ethereal (i.e. who travel
through the Border Ethereals
of the inner planes): Natives of these
planes can see into the
Ethereal from their home plane. They can
also attack ethereal
beings and enter the Ethereal from their
home plane (only). An
earth elemental in the plane of elemental
Earth that sees an
ethereal traveller can attack that traveller
and then pursue the fleeing
traveller into the Ethereal plane. Such
a creature could not follow
the traveller into the Prime Material
plane, nor into any non-adjacent
quasi- or para-elemental plane.
An inner plane can be
reached from another inner plane merely
by travelling through the para- or quasi-elemental
border
between the planes and crossing over into
the new plane. Check
under Movement on page 24.
Finally, vortices can
be opened directly between the Prime
Material and the elemental planes. These
vortices may be
free-standing or temporary.
A free-standing vortex
exists in situations where a high density
of elemental material exists in a concentrated
mass. Such free-standing
elemental vortices link only with the
major elemental planes,
not their attendant quasi- and para-neighbors.
Some
free-standing gates:
A vortex to elemental
fire in the heart of a volcano
A vortex to elemental
earth at the center of a mountain chain
A vortex to elemental
water at the bottom of a sea
A vortex to elemental
air in the eye of a hurricane or typhoon
At these vortices matter
and individuals can move freely from
one plane to another without harm. When
the phenomenon that
created them ceases (the typhoon expends
itself, the volcano
cools, etc.), the vortex disappears.
Vortices to the Positive
and Negative Material planes are possible
but none have been discovered thus far.
A vortex to the Positive
Material plane would result in a massive
surge of energy
such as that of a star, while a vortex
to the Negative Material
plane would suck in all surrounding substances.
The dangers oof
such vortices preclude their existence
in inhabited areas save
under tight controls, probably under the
eyes of Great Deities.
These dangers also indicate why these
types of vortices have
not yet been discovered. (Theories abound
that the Void card of
the deck of many things transports the
luckless individual into the
Negative Material plane. Whether this
is true is as yet unclear
[and best left to the DM's judgment]).
Temporary vortices or
gates can be forged by such spells as
plane shift or by the powers of hierophant
druids. In both cases,
the gate so opened does not cause matter
to flow from one plane
to another.
Hierophants of sufficient
level are treated as natives of the
inner plane they enter, while other travellers
suffer the inimicable
effects of the plane.
Each of the inner planes
has its own special hazards; the dangers
they share in common are noted below.
Breathing: With
the exception of the plane of elemental Air,
normal breathing is impossible in the
inner planes. Unless the
traveller has some extraordinary means
of breathing, or reduces
the elemental material to a breathable
state (airy water or similar
spell), he suffocates or drowns in 2d4
rounds. (Alternatively, the
rules for holding
breath from the DSG can be used.)
Time: Unlike
the situation in the Ethereal and Astral planes,
subjective time in the inner planes passes
more rapidly than true
time. One true day here equals two subjective
days. The traveller
from the Prime becomes tired twice as
quickly, but can rest and
learn spells twice in one elemental day.
Similarly, healing and
other time-based effects such as spell
research are faster as well.
Gravity: The
gravity in the inner planes differs for each being.
There is no up or down save that created
in the minds of
individuals--local gravity in the inner
planes is determined by the
intelligent beings in that area.
Any sentient being can
determine which way is "up" for him
("down" is in the opposite direction).
If the traveller does not
decide upon a direction for gravity, he
is weightless. If the traveller
chooses a "down" direction in which there
is not sufficient mass
to support him (such as on the plane of
elemental Air), he falls at
1,000 feet per round. The traveller can
change the direction of the
fall by changing the "down" direction.
To stop, the traveller must
reverse gravity for one round, then negate
gravity (by deciding
there is no "down" direction).
It is important to remember
that a traveller has momentum in
whatever direction he is travelling. Even
if he turns off gravity, he
still keeps travelling with the same velocity
(same speed and
direction) until he reverses the prior
direction of gravity.
A warning is in order
for travellers using this method of movement:
If the traveller strikes a solid object
while falling, he takes
damage as if he fell onto that object
(1d6 points of damage per 10
feet, 20d6 max.). <cf. WSG>
For example, imagine
that a traveller is zipping through the
plane of elemental Air (at 1,000 feet
per round), when suddenly
the clouds in the direction of travel
part to reveal a large chunk of
elemental earth directly ahead and about
990 feet away. The
cool-headed traveller quickly reverses
his "down" direction and
as a result hits the earth as if he fell
from only 10 feet as opposed
to 1,000 (he wasn't far enough away to
entirely lose his downward
momentum--if he had been exactly 1,000
feet away, he
would have touched down as gently as a
feather). If the earth is
only 300 feet away when he sees it, the
traveller hits it as if he had
fallen 700 feet.
If the obstruction is
small, the traveller can set the "down"
direction at an angle to his present
direction of travel and swerve
to evade the object.
A traveller who is knocked
out or sleeping while moving retains
his motion, but cannot change it until
he becomes conscious
again. Another being can come along, grab
the traveller, and
change his motion.
Gravity in the inner
planes affects only sentient creatures. An
inanimate object does not move unless
it is in contact with a sentient
being. A quarrel from a crossbow stops
when it leaves the
touch of its firer. A thrown object retains
its energy and momentum,
however, so someone touching a thrown
axe hanging in the
plane of elemental Fire receives damage
if he is in the direction it
was thrown toward (see Combat in the
Inner Planes, page 26).
A sentient being can
MOVE material up to 10 times its mass.
Thus a traveller can sit on small pockets
of earth and zoom
around on the plane of Air, but he cannot
move entire mountains
because they are too massive.
These effects do not
extend beyond 30 feet from the sentient
being, so that a lasso, rope, or normal
arrow attached to a cable
flies for 30 feet, then stops (but it
retains its momentum and will
damage anyone who touches it).
A being who is confused
(and therefore does not know which
way is up) falls in the direction he was
last going and suffers
standard falling damage if he hits an
object. Each round of falling
the invididual should make a save vs.
spell to regain his
bearings. A falling individual who regains
his bearings ceases to
fall instantly without any further damage.
Direction: The
standard ideas of N, S, E, and W
are irrelevant in the elemental planes.
Likewise the concepts of
toward and away do not exist. There is
no way for mortals to easily
find their way across the inner planes.
Locating a particular
place or the connection to another plane
is impossible without
elemental aid (see Movement, this
page). <>
Food and Drink:
The traveller's body hungers and thirsts twice
as fast as in the Prime. Unless food and
water are carried by the
individual, he is subject to the malefic
effects of the plane. On
some planes, such as elemental Water,
thirst is not a problem,
while on other planes, such as that of
elemental Fire, keeping
water is difficult at best. See the listings
of special hazards for
each plane.
Vision and Senses:
The ability to detect objects varies from
plane to plane, with Air being the best
medium for sighting other
objects and Earth the worst. The maximum
sighting ranges are
as follows:
Air: Twice normal for
both normal sight and infravision.
Water: Maximum of 120',
infravision is limited to 10'
Fire: Maximum of 120',
infravision functions normally for
detecting nonnative items only (they stand
out as cool spots
against a hotter background, unless blocked
by intervening heat
sources).
Earth: Traveller is
blind--vision is reduced to areas where there
are pockets of other elements. Detection
devices and spells that
see through stone (such as a ring of x-ray
vision) enable normal
sight.
Postive Material: Limited
to 10 feet because of the brilliant nature of the plane.
Negative Material:
Limited to 10 feet because all radiation is sucked up by this plane.
A para-elemental plane
limits sight as does the more restrictive
of the two elemental planes it lies between;
para-elemental
Smoke is limited as Fire, Ice as Water,
and Ooze and Magma as
Earth.
A quasi-elemental plane
limits vision as does the elemental
plane it adjoins; Lightning and Vacuum
are treated as Air, Steam
and Salt as Water, Radiance and Ash as
Fire, and Minerals and
Dust as Earth.
Ultravision, the vision
that comes from reflected ultraviolet
radiation, does not function in the inner
planes.
Movement is both relatively
easy and devilishly difficult in the
inner planes. A traveller can walk, fly,
or pass through stone
(depending on the plane he is in). However,
the inner planes are
infinitely large, so that it is physically
impossible for a traveller to
walk (or swim or fly) from one side of
the plane of elemental Water
to the other unaided. The ever-changing
nature of these planes
can reduce a simple jaunt between outposts
or citadels into a
journey that takes years.
An unaided traveller
moves at his normal rate. At the end of
every turn, the DM should make a random
roll to determine the
direction the character is moving. If
a character is in sight of an
objective (such as a large brass city
towering among the flames),
then the traveller successfully heads
for that objective. Otherwise
the traveller sets off in a random direction,
and might, after travelling
another turn, find himself back where
he started. (Passing
into the Ethereal plane and following
the curtain has similar effects).
The key word above is
"unaided." Natives of the inner planes
MOVE about those planes much in the same
manner as natives of
the Prime Material plane MOVE through
the Ethereal--by concentrating
on their destination, they know exactly
how to get there.
The traveller intent on getting anywhere
in the inner planes
requires the aid of an elemental guide.
Any creature native to the
plane or the adjacent para- or quasi-planes
can serve as this
guide. The traveller then simply follows
the elemental guide to the
agreed-upon destination, with travel time
similar to that for travel
through the Ethereal plane:
Border with another
inner plane: 10-100 Hours
Specific location within
the plane: 100-1,000 Hours
A journey across several planes may require
the changing of
guides as the traveller enters planes
that are not friendly to the
original guide.
Example: A traveller
wishes to reach a wizard's dwelling on the
plane of elemental Water from the plane
of elemental Fire, but
cannot use the Ethereal plane. The journey
(utilizing elemental
guides) goes as follows:
From START to the plane
of Magma: 10-100 hours
From the plane of Magma
to the plane of Earth: 10-100 hours
From the plane of Earth
to the plane of Ooze: 10-100 hours
From the plane of Ooze
to the plane of Water: 10-100 hours
From the plane of Water
to the dwelling in the plane of Water: 100-1,000 hours
The trip would take
up to 58 days, during which time an unguided
traveller would not even be able to find
his way out of the plane of
Fire.
An elemental guide can
be located in a number of ways. The
traveller can wait for a random creature
to pass and convince it of
his need. The traveller can USE conjuration/summoning
magic to
call into being a suitable elemental creature,
but this creature is not
under the control of the caster, and a
price must be negotiated.
Finally, the traveller can polymorph
himself into a suitable
creature of that plane and use abilities
so gained to MOVE
from one location to another. In the latter
case double all times
required, for the polymorphed being is
not really a native of this
plane. (Movement through their home plane
is not a special ability of
elemental creatures.)
A suitable elemental
guide must be of at least low intelligence
and be able to use (or at least understand)
the language of the traveller.
The traveller must offer sufficient inducement
for the
guide (sparing its life is insufficient,
as the creature could merely
flee back into the elemental plane leaving
the traveller behind).
Some examples of suitable inducements:
Earth: Gems (one 100-gp
gem per hour of service)
Fire: Interesting fuels
(100 gp worth of rare wood per hour of service)
Air: Interesting smells
(100 gp worth of perfume per hour of service)
Water: Interesting
scents and potions (100 gp worth of such materials for an hour of service)
Para- and quasi-elementals
accept payment similar to that
offered to natives of adjoining major
planes. The above applies
for most elemental types. In addition,
two types of elemental
being have special rules:
Elemental Grues
provide service for other creatures slain and
given them (one hour per 10 HP of slain
creatures). Grues
are notably poor at keeping their word,
and attack or desert those
travellers who have displeased them or
whose time has expired.
Geniekind, including
jann, have an additional love of Prime
Material plane riches, magic in particular.
One hundred gold
pieces or the equivalent buys the genie's
services as an elemental
guide for one hour. If something magical
is added, the genie
also fights alongside the traveller in
combat (for as many rounds
as the magical item is worth in 1,000s
of gold pieces). If a ring of djinni summoning,
efreet bottle, or other genie-entrapping
device
is included as part of the bargain, the
genie serves to the best of
its abilities, fights in all reasonable
combats, and guides the traveller
as far as possible on his journey (with
no additional demands
for payment), so great is the genie's
desire to find and destroy
these items.
Elemental guides only
guide (except for genies as noted) and if
placed in combat situations seek to escape
back into the elemental
wastes, returning only when the danger
has passed.
The Positive and Negative
Material planes have no native elemental
types, though they have such creatures
such as the xag-ya and xeg-yi
that can be approached in the same fashion.
Encounters in the Inner Planes
There are a wide variety
of creatures that make their homes on
the elemental planes. Natives of the Prime
Material only see
those few beings that break into the Prime
and those that are
summoned by conjure elemental spells.
Even these beings would
be unfamiliar in their native plane as
they change their forms to fit
those required in the spell (the huge
golem-like earth elemental,
the wave-like water elemental, etc.) In
their native planes they
take a variety of forms, from paper-thin
streams of consciousness
to massive blocks of their elemental type.
Elemental creatures
exhibit a wide range of intelligence. An
elemental's intelligence determines where
it stands in their hierarchy.
The weakest of elementals, the animentals,
are almost
mindless creatures that are almost never
found outside their particular
plane. The elemental creatures most familiar
to inhabitants of
the Prime plane are of a mid-level of
intelligence, dumb
enough to be controlled yet powerful enough
to be of USE in their
home planes. Some resemble Prime Material
plane monsters,
are are called elemental monsters.
The most powerful elemental
creatures, called the archomentals, are
great beasts that are individually
named and may stand toe-to-toe with the
lesser deity-class
creatures of the outer planes. The rulers
of the various elemental
types are called "elemental princes."
The evil elemental
princes have been described in the FIEND
FOLIO tome.
Elemental creatures
have dissimilar forms in their native plane,
though stats such as their HD, AC, and
other
physical attributes remain the same. Their
various forms duplicate
those of Prime Material creatures, so
it is possible to discover
an earth elemental with the basic stats
and behavior of a
giant beaver, or the plane of Water's
version of the tarrasque.
Elemental creatures
are made of the same material as the
planes that they are native to, so an
elemental creature in its
home plane or the adjacent para- and quasi-planes
can move
through that terrain much in the same
way as an ethereal traveller
moves through the Ethereal plane. Creatures
who are not from
that inner plane or adjacent para- or
quasi-plane cannot move in
that fashion and require elemental guides.
Inhabitants of the inner
planes see creatures in the Border
Ethereal adjacent to their plane as ghost-like
figures. (From the
PMP, travellers in the Border Ethereal
are invisible.)
Further, inhabitants of the inner planes
can enter the Ethereal
to pursue a TARGET or evade a powerful
foe. An inhabitant of
the inner planes cannot enter the PMP
without
aid or a free-standing gate.
Inhabitants of the inner
planes cannot be harmed by attacks of
their elemental types while in the inner
planes. A fireball used
against salamanders inspires derision
(at best). Similarly, creatures
of the elemental plane of Air pay no attention
to air-based
attacks, including stinking cloud and
cloud kill, while those from
the plane of elemental Earth cannot be
harmed by move earth or
rock to mud. Creatures from the Negative
Material plane cannot be
harmed by an energy drain attack
in the inner planes.
Random encounters only
occur only on the elemental, para-elemental,
and quasi-elemental planes. There are
no random encounters
on the Positive and Negative Material
planes--any
encounters there are determined by the
DM. Frequencies and
number appearing are as for the creature's
home plane.
Inner Planar Creatures
(Common)
| Creature | #App. | Home Plane |
| Aerial Servant | 1-10 | A |
| Azer | 3-30 | F |
| Bat, Fire | 2-20 | F |
| Dao | 4-24 | E |
| Djinni | 4-24 | A |
| Efreeti | 4-24 | F |
| Elemental, Air | 4-12 | A |
| Elemental, Earth | 4-12 | E |
| Elemental, Fire | 4-12 | F |
| Elemental, Water | 4-12 | W |
| Invisible Stalker | 2-12 | A |
| Magman | 4-24 | Mg |
| Marid | 4-24 | W |
| Mihstu | 4-12 | Sm |
| Para-Elemental, Ice | 2-12 | Ic |
| Para-Elemental, Smoke | 2-12 | Sm |
| Para-Elemental, Magma | 2-12 | Mg |
| Para-Elemental, Ooze | 2-12 | Oz |
| Q-Elemental, Lightning | 2-12 | Li |
| Q-Elemental, Radiance | 2-12 | Ra |
| Q-Elemental, Minerals | 2-12 | Mi |
| Q-Elemental, Steam | 2-12 | St |
| Q-Elemental, Dust | 2-12 | Du <> |
| Q-Elemental, Vacuum | 2-12 | Vc |
| Q-Elemental, Salt | 2-12 | Sa |
| Q-Elemental, Ash | 2-12 | As |
| Salamander | 4-40 | F |
| Triton | 4-40 | W |
| Xorn | 4-32 | E |
| Common Animentals | - | * |
Inner Planar Creatures (Uncommon)
| Creature | #App. | Home Plane |
| Basilisk, Greater | 2-4 | E |
| Crysmal | 3-18 | E |
| Grue, Chaggrin | 2-5 | E |
| Grue, Harginn | 2-8 | F |
| Grue, Ildriss | 2-8 | A |
| Grue, Varrdig | 2-5 | W |
| Human Travelers | - | - |
| Khargra | 3-18 | E |
| Lava Kid | 3-18 | Mg |
| Mud-men | 3-18 | Oz |
| Nereid | 2-12 | W |
| Sandling | 3-18 | Ds |
| Thoqqua | 2-12 | Mg |
| Vapor Rat | 2-16 | St |
| Vortex | 4-24 | A |
| Water Weird | 3-12 | W |
| Wind Walker | 3-18 | A |
| Xaren | 2-12 | E |
| Uncommon Animentals | - | * |
| Common Elem. Mons. | - | * |
Inner Planar Creatures (Rare)
| Creature | #App. | Home Plane |
| Dune Stalker | 2-12 | Du <> |
| Jann | 3-18 | * |
| Pech | 4-24 | E |
| Phantom Stalker | 2-12 | F |
| Rare Animentals | - | * |
| Uncommon Elem. Mon. | - | * |
Inner Planar Creatures (Very Rare)
| Creature | #App. | Home Plane |
| Daemon | Var. | * |
| Demon | Var. | * |
| Deva | Var. | * |
| Devil | Var. | * |
| Modron | Var. | * |
| Slaadi | Var. | * |
| Very Rare Animental | - | * |
| Rare and Very Rare Elemental Monster | - | * |
Creature Table Explanations
MM = Monster Manual
MMII = Monster Manual
II
FF = Fiend Folio
MoP = Manual of
the Planes
Frequency and number
appearing are for that creature's
native plane, as shown under the notes
column: A = Air, E =
Earth, F = Fire, W = Water, Sm = Smoke,
Oz = Ooze, Ic = Ice,
Mg = Magma, Du = Dust, Va = Vacuum, Sa
= Salt, As = Ash,
Ra = Radiance, Li = Lightning, MI = Minerals,
St = Steam.
Creatures noted with an asterisk (*) appear
with that frequency
(common, rare, etc.) in all of of the
elemental planes.
Animental: An
animental is an elemental being that corresponds
to an animal of the PMP. The creature's
stats and general appearance conform with
those of the Prime
Material animal. The animental also gains
the abilities common
to that type of elemental in its home
plane. For example, a quasi-lightning
animental constrictor snake has stats
similar to the constrictor
on page 111 of the MMII, the elemental
ability to see into
the Border Ethereal from its native plane,
and the quasi-elemental
ability of total immunity from lightning.
In appearance,
the creature looks serpentine, but it
has distinctive markings (an
electric blue head, a translucent body
that glows like a neon tube,
etc.).
Elemental Monsters:
Elemental monsters are creatures that
duplicate the stats of creatures of the
PMP, yet
are elemental in nature. Like animentals,
they have the abilities
of the form they mimic, plus the abilities
particular to their elemental
types and home plane. Appearance varies
from plane to
plane. A beholder from the plane of elemental
Earth may look like
a rock-like triceratops with its eyes
along the frill, or a boulder-like
creature with human masks performing the
functions of eyes.
The DM is encouraged to let the appearance
of elemental monsters
vary so that players are unsure what they
are encountering.
It is believed that
animentals and elemental monsters are temporary
containers for elemental force that has
attained sentience.
They are not as permanent a feature of
the plane as true elementals
or monsters original to the plane. In
game terms, the existence
of animentals and elemental monsters enables
the judge to
quickly adapt Prime Material creatures
and monsters in the
elemental planes without having to create
entire ecosystems.
All natives of the elemental
planes can extend their awareness
into the Border Ethereal and perceive
travellers there. Those
noted as being found in the Ethereal plane
can enter the Ethereal
as well. These abilities only apply to
creatures in their native
planes. An Air elemental in the plane
of Air could perceive travellers
on that plane's Border Ethereal and enter
into the Ethereal
to attack them. The Air elemental could
not do this on the plane of
Fire and Smoke.
Elemental encounters
in nonnative planes: The previous
table gives each creature's frequency
in its native plane. That frequency
drops by one rank for every inner plane
removed from the
native plane (according to the diagram
of the inner planes, page 23).
For example, an air elemental would be
would be common on its home
plane, uncommon on the plane of Lightning,
rare on the plane of
Radiance, very rare on the plane of Minerals,
and a unique
encounter on the plane of elemental Earth,
which is farthest from
air. In selecting creatures for random
encounter charts, the DM
should keep in mind the limitations of
the creatures (salamanders
in the plane of Water have to be protected
from its effects in some
way, or they are destroyed immediately).
For human travellers,
USE the chart on page 16 to determine
their
number and levels. Humans are almost always
encountered in groups.
A lone traveller is never less than 20th
level.
The mechanics of combat
in the inner planes vary from plane
to plane. Because of the wildly diverse
natures of these planes,
detailed combat effects are given in each
plane's description.
Several common factors apply to combat
in all inner planes:
* Armor performs normally,
so that leather armor provides the
same AC protection as in the PMP.
* Missile and thrown
weapons are limited by the fact that as
soon as they fired or thrown, they are
no longer in contact with
intelligent creatures and thus do not
MOVE. Such items retain the
force of their throw, so that an arrow
hangs in mid-air, but if touched
it acts as if its flight had suddenly
been resumed (either jumping
out of the creature's grasp or inflicting
damage if the creature
is in its line of fire). An item that
remains in contact with its caster,
such as a lasso, is unaffected out to
30 feet away.
* An exception to the
above limitation on missile and throwing
weapons are magical items. Items that
are magical in the inner
planes can be thrown or fired out to their
normal ranges (an
arrow +3 could be fired normally).
* Magical weapons with
pluses to hit and magical armor with
pluses to AC have those pluses reduced
by 2, as the inner planes
are two planes removed from the PMP. Weapons
and armor whose pluses are lost are treated
as nonmagical. They
regain their pluses and abilities upon
return to more hospitable planes.
Attacks can be made
from above and below as in the Ethereal
plane. In this case, overhead and from
below depend on the orientation
of the the TARGET. An attack from above
negates any shield
bonus, but the TARGET is considered to
have a shield if wearing a
helmet. Attacks from below are considered
attacks from behind
for all purposes, including thief back-stabbing
abilities. A being
can change orientation in a single round
and still make any
attacks, so a thief back-stabbing
from below may find himself
eye-to-eye with his TARGET in the next
round.
A TARGET of size S can
be attacked by a max. of eight other
size S creatures, six size M creatures,
or three size L creatures in
the inner planes. A TARGET of size M can
be attacked by a max.
of 12 size S creatures, eight size M creatures,
or six size L
creatures. A TARGET of size L can be attacked
by a max. of 18
size S creatures, 12 Size M, and eight
size L creatures at any one
time. This assumes that such creatures
can reach from all sides,
and the numbers are reduced if they cannot
surround a target or
if the AREA of combat is hampered by obstructions.
Magick
in the Inner Planes
In general, spell-casting
is not inhibited by the nature of the
inner planes, as long as the spellcaster
has sufficient room for
gesturing, sufficient air or similar medium
to vocalize the verbal
component, and adequate material components.
Magical effects
may be affected by the nature of the planes
(for example, a [wall of ice]
in the plane of elemental Fire is not
a long-lasting structure).
Such physical limitations are covered
in the magic notes for each
inner plane.
Organized magic is generally
more powerful in the inner
planes than on the PMP, but there are
more
restrictions. The greatest difference
is that spells that rely on elemental
forces can be modified to affect all other
elemental types
(each modification must be researched
seperately). A spell that
effects water can be used to similarly
affect earth or fire, so that a
wall of water may appear or a create
air may be CAST.
This modification usu.
only applies in modifying one elemental
effect to another. Positive and negative
energies are not
elements in this sense, and as such a
mage cannot create a wall of negative energy.
Spells that apply to entire planes (such
as [negative plane protection]) can be modified
to affect any other
inner plane, but in general, spells affecting
elemental forces can
only be modified into other elemental
forces.
To determine the chances
of a modified spell being CAST, the
caster must roll as if learning a new
spell. This roll is made when
the spell is CAST, regardless of the #
of times the caster has
previously CAST the spell. M-Us roll against
their INT,
as they would if normally learning the
spell, but those
wielding clerical magick use the WIS score.
If the roll fails, the
caster cannot make another attempt for
one true day, but is otherwise
not penalized.
A spell that is CAST
in this fashion can be used in any of the inner
planes, though not in the Prime, Ethereal,
Astral, or outer planes,
as it is a spell designed for specific
situations presented by
the inner planes. Knowing that such a
spell exists, a caster can
develop a Prime Material equivalent through
spell research.
Such research is no more than one level
higher than the inner plane spell.
The exact nature of the spell in the PMP
may be determined by the DM.
Prime Material creature-affecting
spells affect the inner planar
equivalents of these beings.
The types of spells
that can be modified, and the modifications
that can be made to each type are detailed
following each spell
type.
Abjurations
All spells of this type
can be CAST in the inner planes, save
where noted under the spell description.
Spells affecting extra-dimensional
creatures affect the traveller, but do
not affect creatures native to the inner planes.
Examples:
* The M-U spell [banishment]
CAST by a mage from the
PMP plane at Xorn in the plane of para-elemental
Magma
will have no effect, but an elemental
creature using that same
spell could return the Prime planar mage
to his home.
* The druidical [protection
from fire] spell can be modified to
protection from element in the
inner planes, excluding protection from positive or
protection from negative. The [protection
from lightning] spell, one level higher, may have originally been created
on the plane of quasi-elemental Lightning,
and brought back and
researched for USE in the Prime plane.
Such a protection spell
protects the caster from the hostile natural
forces of the plane for
as long as the spell lasts.
* Similarly, the [Negative
plane protection] spell can be modified
to inner plane protection for any
of the inner planes. The [Negative plane protection] spell
cannot be CAST in the Negative Material
plane (and like limitations hold for the variations on this
spell.)
* Druidical spells that
provide protection from insects, plants,
and animals have the same effect on the
inner plane equivalents
of these creatures.
Special Case:
* The [anti-magic shell]
is dangerous to the user in the inner
planes, in that all magickal protections
are removed within that
sphere, removing any protections the user
may have to survive in
that plane. You
have been warned. <alt>
Alterations
The family of alteration
spells have the greatest chance of
being modified by the spell-caster in
inner planes. All spells
can be CAST in the inner planes, though
their effects may be limited
by the physical nature of the plane itself
(a [cloudburst] can be
CAST in the plane of Air, but the air
is pretty saturated with water so
the spell may not be very effective).
Spells that have a particular
effect on the plane they are native to
(such as a [lower water] on
the plane of elemental Water) have similar
effects if modified to
another plane (in this case a lower
fire on the plane of elemental
Fire).
Examples:
* The clerical
spell resist fire can be modified by the format discussed
above to perform as a resist element,
providing suitable
protection from the hostile nature of
the elemental, quasi-elemental,
and para-elemental planes. It would have
no effect on
the Negative and Positive Material planes.
* Create water
can be modified to create element of a particular
type. Of course, these created objects
are subject to the physical
effects of the plane they are created
on. (Ice created in the
plane of elemental Fire does not last
very long.)
* The transmute rock
to mud spell can function as a transform
element to para-element: earth
becomes ooze (similar to the original
spell) or magma, fire becomes magma or
smoke, air becomes
smoke or ice, and water becomes ice or
ooze. The AREA affected
by the spell is the same as for transmute
rock to mud. Each type
of transmutation (water to ice,
fire
to magma, etc.) must be
researched seperately.
* The transmute water
to dust spell can be modified to transform element to negative quasi-element
spells.
Elemental water becomes ash, air becomes
vacuum, fire becomes ash, and earth
becomes dust. Creatures made of these
elemental materials are
hurt as a Prime Material creature by a
transmute
water to dust. No
existing spell transforms element to
positive quasi-element.
Special Cases:
* The water walk
spell and the ring of water walking enable a
character to walk on the surface of liquids.
In the plane of elemental
Water such surfaces are few and far between
(being "bubbles"
of air in the water). The water walk
spell (and any elemental walk
modifications of that spell enables the
caster to walk on the
surfaces of such interfaces.
* There is no weather
in any of the elemental planes save that
of Air, therefore the control weather
spell functions only in the
plane of Air.
* The Astral plane cannot
be reached, so that the astral spell
does not work. Spells that reach the Ethereal
(vanish, Leomund's secret chest, etc.)
or open into extradimensional space function
normally.
* The reverse gravity
spell temporarily disrupts the TARGET's
personal idea of down so that it must
right itself (taking one round
and shifting to match the new orientation)
before taking other
action. A being subject to reverse
gravity falls at a rate of 1,000
feet per round until its fall is halted
by regaining balance or running
into something.
Conjurations/Summonings
All conjuration and
summoning spells work under the following
limitations:
* Those spells that
summon a particular type of elemental
being summon that being only in its native
plane or adjacent
quasi- and para-planes. These spells do
not guarantee control
over the elemental once called, but the
elemental is not immediately
hostile to the caster.
* Spells that summon
animals, monsters, or other Prime
Material creatures summon the elemental
versions of these creatures.
The elemental creatures have the same
appearance, stats,
and abilities as the Prime versions, but
are elementals of
the type found in that inner plane (except
that the Positive and
Negative planes have no elemental types).
* Spells that contact
beings in the Astral and outer planes do
not function in the inner planes.
Examples:
* The dust devil,
aerial
servant, and invisible stalker spells,
which all summon creatures of the plane
of elemental Air, work
only in that plane and those inner planes
that adjoin it (Vacuum,
Lightning, Smoke, and Ice). The illusionist
summon
shadow spell
functions only in the Negative Material
plane and in the negative
quasi-planes (Vacuum, Salt, Ash, and Dust).
The creatures summoned
are not immediately controlled by the
caster, but neither
are they hostile to him.
* The cacodemon spell
does not function, as it reaches into
the outer planes, nor does a gate
or wish that is directed to a
deity that inhabits the Astral or outer
planes. These spells work
only if the being makes its home in the
Ethereal or inner planes.
* An animal summoning
spell
CAST in the inner planes summons
an animental of the same abilities as
the animal that would
be summoned from the PMP. Similarly, a
monster
summoning V
calls an elemental with the stats and
abilities of the
Prime Material monster. The druidical
summon
insects and
creeping doom call forth hordes
of insect-sized elementals.
* The fire seeds
and flame arrow spells can be CAST, but their
effects vary according to the physical
nature of the plane.
Special Cases:
* The druidical weather
summoning does not function
except in the plane of Air (none of the
other planes experience
weather as we know it).
* The enchant an
item spell can be CAST in half the time it would
be in the Prime, provided that the M-U
can find a secure location
for that amount of time. Any items created
in the elemental plane
and taken elsewhere suffer reductions
in powers similar to bringing
a Prime Material magickal item into the
inner planes. For
example, a sword +3 forged on the
plane of Elemental Air would
be a sword +1 on the PMP.
Divinations
All divination spells
function in the inner planes. Those that call
upon a more powerful entity function only
if that entity is a
native of the inner planes or the Ethereal
plane.
Example:
* A commune spell
functions only if the being is a native of the
Ethereal or inner planes. A commune
with nature spell fails as
well (however, see druidical abilities).
Special Cases:
* The stone tell
spell is the only modifiable spell in the divination
family. It can be modified to an element
tell for any of the elemental
types.
* Find the path
can be used to find specific items within the
plane without an elemental guide. As long
as a find the path spell
is operating, the caster can find his
way through the plane within
the time limits for
travel as noted on page 24. Should the find the path
spell elapse, the journey must begin again
(in a random
direction and rerolling the time involved).
Should the find the path spell
elapse, the journey must begin again (in
a random
direction and rerolling the time involved).
Enchantments/Charms
These spells function
normally. They affect all elemental
beings that are in the forms of creatures
susceptible to enchantment
and charm spells.
Examples:
* The clerical snake charm spell affects only elementals in serpentine form.
* The M-U's hold
person and charm spells function
only against humanoid elementals (a very
good reason why most
elemental forms are nonhuman).
Evocations/Invocations
Evocation and invocation
spells operate normally with the following
limitations:
* Invocation spells
function if the deity's domain is in the plane
or in one of the adjacent planes.
* Evocations that call
into being an elemental force can be
modified in the inner planes to call upon
any elemental force.
These modified spells work exactly as
the original spell for the
purposes of inflicting damage. Such spells
include those that create
items of fire, lightning, ice (but not
cold), winds, clouds, fog,
and flames.
Examples:
* A cleric on the plane
of quasi-elemental Lightning can USE
the spiritual hammer spell (invocation)
if his deity makes its home
in the please of Negative Energy, elemental
Air, quasi-elemental
Steam, Lightning, or Minerals, or para-elemental
Ice or Smoke.
* The fireball
spell can be modified to be a lightning ball, air ball,
earth ball (which would appear
as a cluster of stones), or dust ball.
The radius of effect and the damage (1d6
per level) remain the same.
* Similarly, a lightning
bolt spell can be modified to be a water bolt,
bolt of stone, or fire bolt,
again with the same damage,
range, and chance of bouncing off targets
as the original spell.
* The cone of cold
or Otiluke's freezing sphere cannot be modified
to affect elemental types, nor can the
wall
of iron, as these
spells do not have true elemental associations.
Special Case:
* The chariot of
Sustarre is treated as an invocation spell, not
an evocation spell, in the inner planes.
It is not modifiable into
earth, water, or lightning-based versions
of the same form
(though such forms could be researched
seperately).
Illusions/Phantasms
All illusion/phantasm
spells function normally in the inner
planes. Those that are combined with alterations
are modified
according to the limitations placed on
alteration spells.
Necromantics
Necromantic spells perform
normally in the elemental and
para-elemental planes. They are limited
in the quasi-elemental
planes and Negative and Postive Material
planes as follows:
* No beneficial necromantic magic can be cast in the Negative
Material plane.
Harmful necromantic magick automatically succeeds
(no save) and inflicts
max. damage.
* Beneficial necromantic
magick heals or restores the min.
number of points in the negative quasi-planes,
and those
spells that require a save or roll based
upon CON
automatically fail. Harmful necromantic
magick is affected as for the
Negative Material plane.
* Beneficial necromantic
magick heals or restores the max.
amount possible in the positive quasi-planes,
and those
spells that require a save or roll based
on CON
automatically succeed. Harmful necromantic
spells always inflict
min. damage, and all saving throw rolls
of 2 or greater succeed
against harmful necromantic spells.
* Beneficial necromantic magick in the Positive Material plane
restores max. amounts
of damage, and all those spells that
require a save or
roll on CON automatically succeed.
Harmful necromantic
spells automatically fail.
* Beneficial necromantic
spells restore HP, abilities,
levels, or life. Harmful necromantic spells
deprive the victim of
these quantities. Necromantic spells that
are neither beneficial
nor harmful (such as feign death)
are unaffected on the quasi-planes
and in the Positive and Negative Material
planes.
Examples:
* A cure light wounds
CAST in the elemental or para-elemental
planes restores 1d8 lost HP to the recipient.
This spell does
not work in the Negative Material plane,
restores 1 point in the
negative quasi-planes, and restores 8
points in the Postive Material
plane and postive quasi-planes.
* A slay living
CAST in the elemental or para-elemental planes
functions normally. This spell fails in
the Positive Material plane.
It has a save of 2, inflicting 3 points
of damage if the save
is made, on the positive quasi-planes.
It automatically succeeds
(no save) on the negative quasi-planes
and Negative
Material plane. Should a save somehow
be gained
(through a scarab of protection,
for example), and the throw
made, the TARGET still sustains 17 points
of damage.
Special Cases:
* The clone spell
requires only half the time to finish in the
inner planes. It can be created in any
inner plane if a safe place is
found for it to growth. <>
* The reincarnate
spell, if CAST on the inner planes, restores
the spirit as an elemental of the type
called for in the spell (you
can be reincarnated as an air ogre
or a magma badger, for
instance). This spell does not work in
the Positive and Negative
Material planes, which have no true native
life.
Combination Spells
Combination spells are
limited by the rules governing all the
spell types they belong to. Modifications
for one of the types to
spells can be used to modify the combination
spell.
Magical Items
Magical items from the PMP operate under the following restrictions:
* Weapons are reduced
by two pluses to hit and damage.
Exceptions include those weapons with
pluses against particular
elemental creatures (they retain their
full magickal benefit) and
weapons that draw their power from elemental
planes, such as
the flametongue and energy draining
swords.
* Magical armor and
protection devices are similarly reduced
two pluses for AC and saving throw protection.
* Magical devices that
reach into extradimensional space
(such as a portable hole) function
normally in all the inner planes.
* Magical devices that
draw on powers based in the Ethereal
and inner planes function normally. Those
that call upon energies
from the Prime Material, Astral, and outer
planes do not function in the inner planes.
Magic-Users and Illusionists
See Magic
in the Inner Planes. Magic-users and illusionists
regain spells normally in the inner planes
by resting and studying
the required amount of subjective time,
provided they brought
their spell books with them.
Clerics and Druids
See Magic in the Inner Planes for spell effects. For other abilities:
* Clerics and druids
regain their normal complement of spells
provided that the deity resides no more
than two planes away. A
cleric in the plane of elemental Fire
regains spells normally if his
deity resides in the plane of elemental
Fire, the Ethereal, any
demi-plane reached by the Ethereal, the
Prime Material, or any
other inner plane.
* Clerics turn undead
normally in the inner planes, except that
those undead that draw their power from
the Negative or Positive <x>
Material planes are treated as the next
more powerful type for
turning on those planes and on the related
quasi-planes. For
example, a spectre on the plane of quasi-elemental
Dust is treated
as a vampire for purposes of turning.
* Druidical abilities
are modified as follows: Identification of
animal and plant type, passing through
overgrown areas, and
immunity from woodland creature's charm-type
abilities do not
function. This is because creatures and
areas of similar effects in
the elemental planes are alien to the
druid (a native elemental
druid would have the same problems in
the PMP).
The abilities of identifying pure water
and changing form
are not affected.
* Hierophant druids
retain their abilities that are gained
through level. They can enter other elemental
planes by opening
a gate that they and their companions
may enter, without passing
through the Ethereal. The hierophant druid
is immune to the
effects of any plane he can reach, though
those who accompany
the druid are not so fortunate. The hierophant
druid's ability to
conjure elemental creatures is limited
to the inner plane of the
same type or those planes adjacent to
it. Unlike the case with the
conjure elemental spell, the creatures
summoned have undying
loyalty and will serve the hierophant
without concern for their own
well-being.
Thieves
Thieves retain their
abilities, but against a native of the plane
they suffer a -20% modifier to their attempts.
(A thief attempting
to sneak past a magman in the plane of
para-elemental Magma
must subtract 20% from the chance of success,
but attempting
to open a lock in that plane incurs no
penalty).
Fighters
All fighter abilities function normall in the inner planes, subject to the limitations on combat of these planes.
Rangers
Rangers lose their advantage
in avoiding surprise in the inner
planes, but they retain their 3 in 6 chance
of surprising others.
Rangers not native to the inner planes
cannot track through
them. Rangers of sufficient level to USE
druidical and M-U
spells USE them under the limitations
placed on druids and
M-Us.
Barbarians
The ever-shifting inner
planes are most definitely not familiar
terrain for USE of wilderness-borne skills.
Barbarians of low level
seek to escape these planes at the first
opportunity, while those
of 6th or higher level venture here only
in emergencies.
Cavaliers
Cavalier abilities are
unaffected in these planes, save by those
restrictions placed on combat. As is the
case with the Ethereal
plane, a cavalier wishing to bring his
mount into the inner planes
must train the mount from birth for such
travels.
Paladins
Paladin combat functions
are unaffected in the inner planes.
Abilities that are affected are these:
* Healing abilities
are unaffected in the elemental and para-elemental
planes, but are affected as necromantic
magick in the
quasi-elemental planes and Positive and
Negative Material
planes.
* A paladin's immunity
to disease is negated in the Positive
Material plane and positive quasi-elemental
planes. This is
because these planes encourage the maximum
growth and flourishing
of disease. A paladin who becomes diseased
on these
planes and leaves is still diseased, but
he regains his invulnerability
to other diseases.
* A paladin's abilities
to CAST clerical spells and affect undead
are limited as for clerics.
* A paladin's mount
may be brought into the inner planes provided
the mount is sufficiently protected from
the dangers of the
planes.
Monks
* Monk special abilities,
including additional damage and stunning
opponents, are unaffected in the inner
planes. Thieving abilities
are affected as for thieves. The monk
ability to fall without
damage comes into play when the monk is
unsure about orientation
(such as when subject to confusion
or reverse gravity, or
thrust into a plane and unable to determine
up or down). The
monk's ability allows him to right himself
immediately
without the loss of a round.
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THE FORUM
After
reading all the letters and articles about
other planes that have been
appearing in
DRAGON
recently, I’d like to put in my own
two cents:
Having the elemental planes
as physical loca-
tions where characters can
travel and adventure is
all very nice for gaming
purposes, but a little
serious thought shows how
flawed it is. Elemental
planes should be abstract,
all-pervading fields,
not places to go and kill
creatures.
It’s all a matter of mechanics:
Is there any way
to structure the elemental
planes so that they
make sense? They are obviously
not organized in
a literal “ring”
(as in the Players Handbook) or
square (as in Gary Gygax’s
new method). These
forms are just representations
of the planes’
relationships to each other.
This is all very easy to
deal with. However,
now that we know what the
planes are not, what
are they? Well, the elemental
planes are obviously
meant to be vast spaces
of infinite substances,
extending in all directions
and with no real
boundaries. It is not very
practical to think of
them as limited spaces,
because all sorts of prob-
lems arise (how do they
end, what is beyond
them, and so on) which,
if answered, would
result in something not
at all like the conventional
concept of planes, and which
would probably also
be downright ridiculous
(like separating the
planes by ultra-cosmic impenetrable
walls, for
instance). All right then,
the elemental planes are
infinite. Another problem
arises: What about
gravity? In an infinite
space, what would be the
center of gravity, and how
would it work? One
could assume that there
is no gravity on the
elemental planes, but then
several problems arise,
the most obvious of which
occurs in the plane of
water: without gravity,
water forms into small
spheres which float in the
air; therefore, the plane
of water would be an endless
expanse of water-
spheres floating around.
This is far from the
conventional idea of the
plane of water, and it
would certainly not support
any aquatic life.
Let’s assume, though, that
you find a reason-
able way of having a source
and center of gravity
in the elemental planes.
If you have a center of
gravity, then, obviously,
all things will be drawn
toward it. Therefore, anyone
who appears on the
elemental plane of water
would be instantly
crushed by the infinite
amount of water pressing
down upon him. This is true
even on the elemen-
tal plane of air; though
the weight of air is negli-
gible on Earth, an infinite
amount pressing down
on something is more than
enough to squash it to
a pulp. No, as they are,
the elemental planes just
don’t make sense.
As far as my campaign is
concerned, the
elemental planes are abstract,
intangible forces
surrounding and permeating
the Prime Material
Plane. These elemental planes
give the Prime
Material Plane all of its
substance, and the Prime
Material Plane provides
the bonding force which
resolves the separate elements
into distinct
shapes. The elemental planes
are non-existent in
spatial terms. They are
an abstract concept; there
is no life on the planes
themselves, and it is
impossible to go there by
any means.
DMs reading this can either
use an abstract
system like the one I have
suggested, or they can
take the ever-so-common
escape route of saying
that the construction of
the planes is “beyond
human comprehension” and
therefore doesn’t
have to make sense.
Edward R. Masters
Washington, D.C.
(Dragon #84)
Edward
Masters' recent letter on the elemental
planes (Forum, issue #84)
is based on some very
fundamental misconceptions
about physics as well
as other things.
First of all, the elemental
planes can be infinite
while still remaining
bounded. An analogy for
this would be in mathematics,
where an interval
between two points contains
an infinite number
of points. Thus, while one
elemental plane is
bounded by its bordering
neighbors, it is still
infinite in scope. Such
is probably the case with
our own infinite universe,
which most cosmolo-
gists believe to be bounded.
Second, there is no such
thing as a ?center of
gravity? as Mr. Masters
tries to apply the term.
Gravity is a warp in space
caused by mass. Thus,
as has been experimentally
proven, any object
with mass tends to warp
space around it. For
example, if you were in
an ideal environment
where you were the only
mass around and some
object of less mass, say
a toothpick, were brought
into that environment, it
would immedietaly be
drawn toward you due to
your gravitational field.
The only reason that things
like this don?t occur
on earth is that the earth?s
own mass far surpasses
that of anything on it.
Mr. Masters? example of
water forming into spheres
is due to the very fact
that water molecules, which
possess mass, warp
the space around them so
that other molecules are
?pulled? toward them. These
molecules form
spheres as opposed to other
shapes because a
sphere is the most economical
shape possible, as
all points on its surface
are equidistant from its
center. Thus, a plane consisting
almost exclu-
sively of water would not
be ?an endless expanse
of water spheres floating
around? but rather one
huge sphere of water. Of
course, anyone on the
plane could not possibly
appreciate the plane?s
spherical shape, just as
one walking down the
street tends not to notice
the curvature of the
earth. (If he did, Columbus
wouldn?t have had to
leave his home port to prove
anything.)
Also, a traveler on the elemental
planes would
not be crushed by infinite
amounts of water or
air. First of all, a large
mass of gas or liquid
under pressure becomes more
dense. Thus, near
the center of a plane, the
?elements?
(water and
air, in this case) would
condense into a substance
adequate to stand on, as
is probably the case in
gas giant planets like Jupiter.
Further, near
infinite amounts of mass
and great pressure
might even create a fusion
reaction at the very
center of a plane, thus
making a sun to warm and
light the entire plane.
While it is true that the
pressure this close to
the center of a plane might
be too much for an
ordinary human to take,
there is no reason why
anyone need fall that far.
The elemental planes
obviously contain other
things besides their
elements of earth, air,
fire, and water. Why, the
planes of air and fire alone
must be littered with
chunks of djinn and efreet
metals. A relatively
small chunk of rock, say
the size of the earth
(remember we?re dealing
with entire universes
here, so we must think big),
would function in
about the same manner as
a planet on the planes
of water or air. It would
orbit around the bright
center of the plane, making
one revolution every
few billion years or so.
It fact, it might even have
an adequate air envelope
around it that would
function as an atmosphere.
Of course, instead of
an airless void as a space
between planets, there
would be water or air or
fire or earth.
Finally, while Mr. Masters
condemns DMs
who assign the elemental
planes spatial value as
using the faulty argument
that these planes don?t
have to make sense, he is
guilty of the same
practice. A non-spatial
concept of the elemental
planes may allow for creatures
like elementals,
but it certainly rules out
positively spatial beings
like the efreet, the djinn,
and the host of others in
the Monster Manual II. If
the elemental plane of
fire has no space, then
the existence of the afore-
mentioned entities is ruled
out, as well as the
existence of places like
the City of Brass. Mr.
Masters makes a mistake
all too common to
DMs: he revokes rules that
at first glance don?t
please him, instead of reasoning
things out within
the official AD&D
rules. To do so is to throw out
the baby with the bath water,
or, more appropri-
ately, to throw the efreet
out with the elemental
plane of fire.
Jeffrey Carey
Chicago, Ill.
(Dragon #85)
* * * *
This is in defense of my
letter printed in issue
#84, which Jeffrey
Carey criticized in issue #85.
I?m sure that Mr. Carey knows
what he?s
talking about when he makes
his comments about
physics on the elemental
planes, but he doesn?t
quite seem to know what
I?m talking about. The
point of my letter was to
show why the conven-
tional usage of the elemental
planes doesn?t really
make sense. Mr. Carey?s
system is that there is an
infinite expanse of substance
(air, water, etc.),
and that solid bodies orbit
the center of the plane.
In other words, each elemental
plane is a huge
solar system, but with fire,
water, etc., separating
the ?planets? instead of
space. I can see how this
would work for air, water,
and even fire, but it
seems hard to use it for
the plane of earth.
Even if Mr. Carey can justify
this, the fact
remains that next to no
one uses a system like
this; I?ve certainly never
heard of it before. The
way most people handle it
is that there is an
infinite expanse of the
element (air, water, etc.)
going in all directions;
one direction is ?down?
and one direction if ?up.?
What I meant when I
said ?center of gravity?
is this: What force would
cause there to be, all over
the plane, an up and
down direction? The most
obvious choice is to
have a center to the plane
which draws all matter
towards it. Whether this
causes a fusion reaction
or not, there would be,
at any point on the plane,
an infinite amount of matter
pressing towards the
center. This would crush
anything that appeared
on the plane. It?s true
that this wouldn?t happen
if one used an ?orbiting?
system like Mr. Carey
suggests, but that?s not
the system I?m talking
about.
In my own game world, I use
?pure? elemen-
tal planes ? that is, non-spatial
planes of pure
element which interact with
the Prime Material
in an abstract way only.
If other DM?s want to do
otherwise, fine.
Edward R. Masters
Washington, D.C.
(Dragon #87)
Edward
R. Masters? contention that the official
structuring of the elemental
planes is nonsensical
(Forum, #84) is well-taken;
but then, by his
reasoning, the entire AD&D®
game universe is
nonsensical. If we were
to apply a little ?serious
reasoning? to the matter,
we would be forced to
admit that there is no way
the AD&D cosmology
could operate the way Gary
Gygax has set it up.
First of all, the Prime Material
Plane and all of
its alternates are purported
to be infinite, just like
the real universe, but coexistent
with the other
planes. This is obviously
an unworkable assump-
tion. Any infinite plane
would, by definition,
displace or subsume all
other planes. If the Prime
Material was an infinite
plane ? or if we ac-
cepted one of Mr. Masters?
infinite elemental
planes ? it would be the
only plane. By this
argument Mr. Masters? plan
for the elemental
planes is absurd.
Secondly, the entire notion
of ?plane? as used
in the AD&D
rules is erroneous. A plane is two-
dimensional, yet the AD&D
universe is obviously
a three-dimensional place.
Third, the construction of
the outer planes is
laughable. Hell isn?t particularly
harrowing when
one thinks of it as being
nine contiguous boxes.
But that?s exactly what
Hell is. The ?ultra-cosmic
impenetrable walls? that
Mr. Masters found so
insufferable between the
elemental planes are the
norm in the Outer Planes.
The whole set-up looks
like the Cosmic Balance?s
Filing System for
Discarded Souls and Miscellaneous
Beings (?A
for Asmodeus . . . Let?s
see ? oh, yes, ninth
drawer . . .).
Finally, the system as a
whole has one great big
flaw: Where is it?!
If all of existence is contained
in the Inner and Outer Planes,
then where or
what is all the space that
surrounds them? Look
at the diagram
on page 130 of the DEITIES &
DEMIGODS? book: It
looks like two balloons
floating around tied together
by a string called
the Astral Plane. Is all
that white space supposed
to represent ?nonbeing??
The point is that AD&D
is a game, and to play
that game we need a simple,
understandable
cosmology. The one in the
game is at least con-
sistent, if not rational.
By eliminating or limiting
the elemental planes, as
Mr. Masters does, the
DM is only limiting the
scope of his or her cam-
paign, and in more ways
than simply losing those
planes as setting for adventures.
When you chuck
the elemental planes, you
kill lots of monsters: the
elementals, djinn, efreet,
xorn ? these and more
all disappear from the campaign.
And if you
discard the system for the
elemental planes, how
can you keep the Outer Planes
in good con-
science? I?m not saying
that the game?s system is
perfect or that it should
not be changed if the DM
so desires (for example,
all of the planes in my
campaign are infinite, existing
in separate but
interactive continuums of
reality), but the official
one is the system the game
is designed for and
works best in.
Mike Beeman
National City, Calif.
(Dragon #86)
In DRAGON #84, Edward R.
Masters wrote
about the elemental
planes. Having watched
articles on the other planes
come and go since
issue #42, I have been sorely
disturbed by some
of the factors Edward points
out; no one seems to
think about (or at least
write about) how the
planes are arranged in relation
to each other, or
how matter arranges itself
on those planes ? is
Elysium an endless flat
plane, extending in all
directions infinitely? If
so, where does sunlight
come from (since the sun
can?t go around an
infinite plane)? If not,
how in the world does
Elysium look?
Thanks to courses in metaphysics
and calculus,
I?ve found some possible
answers. First of all, the
inner planes are not arranged
in a literal cube,
nor are the outer planes
arranged in a circle with
up to 665 (in the case of
the Abyss) planes hang-
ing off the bottom. These
shapes are existential
? shapes which are more
than unfounded con-
cepts, but which are not
exactly ?real? in the
physical sense. To use mathematical
terms, the
planes of existence are
sets of infinite sets, which
works like this:
Imagine taking the number
1, and adding 1 to
it, to get 2. Then add another
1 to get 3. Now
imagine doing that forever,
so that the set of
numbers reaches to infinity.
Now add to this
infinite set another set
of numbers. This set starts
with the number 2 and adds
2 to it each time to
get another member of the
set. Both sets go to
infinity, even though the
numbers in the second
one are twice as large.
This is similar to the relationship
between the
planes; when you have one
plane, it?s infinite
(unless you want to say
that planes are limited in
size, which presents a host
of problems). When
you have two planes, both
are infinitely large, yet
having two is twice as much
as having one, and
even though you can?t see
them in their entirety,
they can easily be seen
to be different from each
other. This difference between
?big? and ?little?
infinities explains how
the para- and quasi-
elemental planes can exist
(if they are the edges
and points of an existential
cube); they are
smaller than the primary
elemental planes, but
are still infinite.
This concept of different-sized
infinities also
explains another inconsistency
in the layout of the
outer planes. Presumably,
the outer planes are
balanced so that law equals
chaos and good
equals evil, but there are
666 planes in the Abyss
and only Seven Heavens!
Now we can explain
this (without limiting the
size of the planes) by
saying that the Heavens
are much bigger than the
planes of the Abyss ? even
though all of them
are infinite.
We are further aided by the
relationships of the
other planes to the Prime
Material. Because all of
the elements are part of
the Prime Material
plane, the sum total of
all the elemental planes
must exactly equal the size
of the Prime Material
plane. Similarly, because
all alignments are
subsumed in the Prime Material,
the sum of all
the outer planes is also
that of the Prime Mate-
rial. (The Astral plane
is considered an outer
plane, while the Ethereal
plane is considered an
elemental plane for this
purpose.)
While we can accept the layout
the rule books
give us for the outer and
inner planes in relation
to each other, that does
not tell us how matter
arranges itself on those
planes. To solve that
problem, we take into account
that (at least in
Earth?s universe) matter
tends to form itself into
spheres, which move in elliptical
orbits around
centers of gravity (usually
other spheres, like the
sun), and from this we can
conclude that all of
the other planes of existence
have planets.
There was one more problem
which Edward
voiced, and which is very
important ? what do
the elemental planes look
like? Are they just
abstract fields? The answer
lies in what the four
elements represented to
alchemists (ether is
referred to as an element
in many alchemical
texts, but they are vague
about exactly what it is).
Alchemists weren?t dumb
? they didn?t think
that everything was made
of dirt, hydrogen
dioxide (water), an impure
gas (air is about 78%
nitrogen, 20% oxygen, and
traces of other as-
sorted gases), and the rapid
oxidation of those
three (fire can?t exist
without something to burn).
The four elements do not
represent things, they
represent states of matter
? solid, liquid, gas,
and energy (earth, air,
water, and fire). Thus, the
elemental planes become
much more exciting.
On the plane of earth, for
example, we would
find only that which is
rigid, but of forms that are
incredible. Imagine the
mountains of Earth
without wind or rain to
wear them down, imag-
ine valleys and basins filled
with the fine white
powder that is solid air.
Since there is no energy,
nothing can move except
by its own will; no form
of life has blood, lungs,
or brain (except for
neural impulses). The list
of seeming impossibili-
ties goes on and on. In
this way do the elemental
planes become a place to
which one can go, for all
of them are diverse and
fantastic ? a far cry from
the abstract, unreachable
planes of some, and the
endless dull rock (or air,
water, or fire) of others.
Scott D. Hoffrage
Miller Place, N.Y.
(Dragon #86)
Regarding Mike Beeman's reply
to Edward R.
Masters' contention
that the elemental planes
should be non-spatial, namely
that the "ultra-
cosmic impenetrable walls"
do in fact exist in the
AD&D
cosmology, I would like to call our read-
ers' attention to an article
from issue #8 of this
magazine (also reprinted
in Best of THE
DRAGON Vol. I) entitled
"Planes: The Concept
of Spatial, Temporal and
Physical Relationships
in D&D."
This article stated that the diagram of
the planes was a ?two-dimensional
diagram of a
four-dimensional concept?
(emphasis added).
The concept of a large or
infinite number of
infinitely large three-dimensional
planes can be
easily explained through
this statement.
Assume, for the sake of argument,
that all of
the planes of existence
are two-dimensional;
Euclidean planes, as students
of geometry will
recall. Now, assume that
all of the various planes,
from the Prime Material
to the 666 layers of the
Abyss to the Plane of Shadow,
are all stacked five
inches apart, and parallel.
Now, add a fourth
dimension, namely height.
At this point, all of
the planes are three-dimensional
and infinite, yet
all of them co-exist.
There are two arguments against
this represen-
tation. The first, that
time is the fourth dimen-
sion, can be eliminated
easily by referring only to
spatial, not temporal, dimensions
in our discus-
sion. The second, that under
the scheme above
the planar traveler would
have to physically pass
through all intervening
planes on the way to his
destination, requires a
little more thought.
As some readers of (semi-)
heroic fantasy may
recall, L. Sprague de Camp
and Fletcher Pratt
proposed in The
Mathematics of Magic, one of
their Harold Shea stories,
that there are six
dimensions ? three in space,
one in time, and
two defining the relations
of the planes to each
other. Now, in two dimensions,
any object that is
finite with respect
to those dimensions may be
reached from any other object
similarly defined,
as long as the objects have
some space between
them. This space is the
Astral and Ethereal
Planes, which exist parallel
to one another within
these two dimensions. Using
astral or ethereal
travel, it is possible to
visit any plane of existence
without traveling through
the intervening planes.
If a six-dimensional multiverse
is adopted, the
?ultra-cosmic impenetrable
walls? do not exist;
they are merely distortions
caused by rendering
the six dimensions on a
two-dimensional surface.
The DM is free to have any
number of coexistent
planes for an infinity of
adventures. The AD&D
cosmology is not
illogical, merely difficult to
explain logically, and as
any debater will tell you,
there is a world ? perhaps
many worlds ? of
difference between the two.
Readers interested in interplanar
and dimen-
sional relationships may
find several books inter-
esting. Flatland,
by Edwin Abbott, and its sequel
Sphereland,
by Dionys Burger, are especially
useful. Also interesting,
although focusing more
on the application than
the theory, are the afore-
mentioned Harold Shea stories,
collected into two
volumes: The Compleat
Enchanter, from Del
Rey Books, and Wall
of Serpents, published by
DAW Books.
Brian M. Ogilvie
Kalamazoo, Mich.
(Dragon #88)
* * * *
Dcollins, my vision of the
elemental planes differs from that published.
As for the City of Brass,
I had it floatiing on fiery stuff of airy sort, a sort of island in a sea
of flames, if you will.
Cheerio,
Gary
Quote:
Originally posted by dcollins
Interesting. So I'm assuming
that the whole plane did have a fixed orientation of gravity, and not the
"everyone flies for free" mechanism?
A correct assumption indeed 
Otherwise, what use the
power of flight possessed by efreet or flying carpets for that matter,
the latter being a favorite means of reaching the fabled city, of course.
Ciao,
Gary
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